Hackles Family

After having breakfast in the campervan by thwe water we headed into the main street of Paihia to prepare for our "Excitor" jet boat ride. After suiting up in ridiculous red pants and jackets, we boarded the massive million dollar jet boat. Courtney dragged me to the front "extreme" seats. Where we had a very bumpy ride. The trip took us out to the tip of the mainland where we say the "Hole in the Rock" and the jet boat was taken through it. Lucky me, sitting on the side, I managed to end up getting my leg and shoe drenched. The boat was family run by 3 siblings, who had 6 more back on shore running local businesses. After arriving back on dry land we had tea and coffee at one of the sisters cafes.

Then it was back to the campervan for the long trip south. We stopped every now and then to take photographs, even running out to Uretiti beach to take photos of the 'Hen and Chicken Islands'.

Despite hearing so much about NZ sheep, all we seemed to see were cows. Lots of cows. And rolling green hills of course.

We managed to end up south of Auckland by the evening and pulled over to sleep at Te Kauwhata.

Well, after waking up in the motel we picked up the campervan and headed north. We stopped for brekky at a macca's where mum had to deal with 'funny money' for the first time. Did a bit of shopping for groceries and visited the Whangarei Falls (26m high, the most photographed falls in NZ). Dinner that night was fish and chips at our destination town, Paihia. Followed by an early bedtime of 8:30...we blam jet lag

Well, I would love to say we were in New Zealand, but no such luck. I am currently at at an internet kiosk at the Brisbane Airport. Those of you who are local, will know that there were dramas on the Gateway Bridge (closest access to the airport today) a truck ran into the toll booths and managed to explode and set fire to all the other toll booths. Access was closed in both directions accross the bridge and delays of up to 8 hours were expected. Needless to say, we paniced and left as soon as we found out (this was just before 3pm our flight was at 7:20) we had to change our plans and recruit boyfriends as drivers (thanks boys xox) and made it to the airport in almost record time (after driving around the wrong side of Brisbane).

Upon our arrival at the airport we discovered our flight had been delayed by two hours (it was going to be slow leaving Fiji) so we really didn't need to rush. So it's 7:20pm now and we have been here since 4pm. It appears our flight may be leaving earlier than thought (around 8:45) and may board in 55 minutes. Then we will be on our way. We should now get to Auckland around 2am their time. Suddenly the motel we booked doesn't seem as good an idea...

Hope to post again soon with happier tales

Still haven't left yet but I thought I would post the itinerary as it might be a few days before I find the internet again...

Friday 30th June – Auckland to Pahia
Saturday 1st July – Excitor Jetboat (Pahia back to Auckland)
Sunday 2nd July – Waitomo Caves and Auckland area
Monday 3rd July – Waitomo to Rotorua (detour for Zorbing) to Taupo
Tuesday 4th July – Thermal Wonderland and Hellsgate
Wednesday 5th July – A public holiday in New Zealand, so we don’t know what we’ll be doing, should probably be in Wellington
Thursday 6th July - Picton (South Island) to Kaikoura to Christchurch
Friday 7th July – Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass
Saturday 8th July – Greymouth/Pancake Rocks (possibly Glaciers)
Sunday 9th July – Fox-Franz Joseph Glaciers
Monday 10th July – Haast to Wanaka
Tuesday 11th July – Possible day for skiing
Wednesday 12th July – Queenstown (Shotover Jet?), Te Anau
Thursday 13th July – Milford Sound
Friday 14th July – Either Dunedin or Mt Cook…don’t know which direction we will take
Saturday 15th July – Christchurch
Sunday 16th July – Fly home to Brisbane from Christchurch

Well here is the first entry of this blog. Not a lot to share just yet since we're still in Oz. Everyone is starting to set aside things they're taking and working out how much they can fit. For those of you who don't know, the family is heading to New Zealand next week for just over a two week period. We are flying into Auckland on June 29 and out of Christchurch on July 16, hoping to see a lot of New Zealand in between. Well, I will keep you posted